BR's Morning News

PHOTOS: Camera Produces 3-D Images of Falling Snowflakes

Researchers at the University of Utah have developed a device that can produce 3-D images of individual falling snowflakes using three high-speed cameras triggered by infrared sensors. The Multi Angle Snowflake Camera (MASC) also measures the fall speed of the snowflakes. The images and information could be used to better understand snowfall and create a more accurate model of winter storms. Currently, weather simulations don't do a very good job of predicting snowfall accurately, with University of Utah atmospheric scientist Tim Garrett explaining to LiveScience.com, "The reason they do so badly is because they don't represent snowflakes very well, because they are based on measurements of snowflakes that were done, painstakingly, by hand, in the 1970s." Speaking about what the cameras show, Garrett said, "When people say no two snowflakes are alike, that is very true. They are dissimilar in ways that I did not imagine prior to starting this project. The range of possibilities is immense."